Countdown to Black Mountain

Saturday morning marked my longest and final long training run. Ready or not let the OFFI CIAL TAPER begin. No not the fake gimp induced three week slump but the real, still running only smaller distances taper into the final event. John Moore joined me for roughly the first half of the run at Moses Cone. We started at the Manor and did a tad over 9 miles in a wide loop finishing on the uphill. From there he dropped out with what sounded like Ketoacidosis (Steve calls me his bad luck charm) and I slogged on with much more walking punctuating the ensuing miles. I ran pretty solid until about mile 12.5 before dropping to a walk on a hill. The next 5.5 involved some walking but facing a long uphill climb after mile 18 I decided to walk the last mile and a half back to the car. I’m counting the full distance though as I will probably be walking sections of Black Mountain as well.
It was great running with John. Maybe it was his handicapped state, but the pace was manageable and the conversation kept my mind off of me and what I was doing. The last half of that run was definitely a ton harder all the more so without the companionship. Thanks to John for hanging in there as long as he did. He was also very encouraging when it came to the topic of my apprehensions about the first marathon. At the lonely completion of the run I was totally spent. I sat and had some Gatorade and a meal replacement shake. By the time I got home I was feeling pretty rough. As Amy would say, “DUH, you just ran farther than you ever had!” I took a short nap while Amy and Carter got out of the house and Gracen was down for her own nap. After that I felt a lot better and even was able to eat. By dinner I was ready for Mellow Mushroom Pizza and a big beer. I’m still nervous about the actual marathon. I’m hoping the weather won’t be too terrible on that weekend. I am looking forward to shorter enjoyable runs in the next two weeks. Just think healthy thoughts…

Zircon